LaMarion Gilliam was a 19-year-old male from North Little Rock who was excitedly preparing for fatherhood. His mother, Christine Wells, remembered him as a gentle, nice, and caring young man. "He was loved," she said. "He was loved by so many people, his family. He was a family person.” But on the morning of May 23, 2023, Gilliam's future was stolen. Police in Pulaski County, Arkansas, received a call about a person lying on State Highway 161 south of Scott.
Responders found Gilliam suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences but died from his injuries.
As investigators secured the area where Gilliam was found, they made a second tragic discovery. In a nearby field lay the body of 16-year-old Sucram O’Donald of Little Rock. He had also been shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division immediately began a double homicide investigation.
For more than a year, the case remained active as the families of the two teenagers waited for answers. A major development came in July 2024 when special agents arrested 25-year-old Devontea Clay. He was served with arrest warrants for two counts of capital murder while he was already incarcerated at the Pulaski County Detention Center on unrelated charges.
The case against Devontea Clay proceeded to trial in Pulaski County. A jury ultimately found Clay, by then 26 years old, guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of LaMarion Gilliam and Sucram O’Donald. For each murder conviction, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison, with an additional 10-year sentence for a firearms enhancement on each charge. A judge ordered the sentences to be served consecutively, resulting in a total sentence of 120 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction.
